Razer's Forge TV, one of the only third party stand-alone Android TV devices announced since the platform launched, is already available as a pre-order from Amazon. Now you can get it straight from the serpent's mouth: Razer is accepting pre-orders for both the Forge TV and the bundle with a Serval controller. The set-top box alone is shipping out on April 29th, with the bundle coming a little later on May 5th.

The Forge TV is a standard Android TV device with a Snapdragon 805 system-on-a-chip, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of storage, and support for USB 3.0 hardware and gigabit Ethernet on top of the usual Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. It gets that Ethernet port because Razer is pushing its Cortex streaming software (sold separately), which allows for NVIDIA SHIELD-style remote PC gaming without any of Big Green's hardware restrictions. Other than Cortex support and a few Razer-specific UI tweaks, the Forge TV runs the same Android TV software you'll find on the Nexus Player.

The stand-alone Forge TV will cost you $99.99 (the same price as the Nexus Player with more powerful hardware), but it doesn't include a remote of any kind, so you'll probably have to use the Android TV app. The bundle with the Serval controller is $149.99, which is ten dollars more than the Nexus Player plus the official ASUS controller. Both options include free standard shipping. Separate Serval controllers can be bought for a hefty $80 each, and for the moment there's no listing for the Turret combined mouse and keyboard, which was priced at $129.99 when the Forge was announced. USB and Bluetooth controllers, mice, and keyboards should be compatible with the Forge if you'd like to save some money.

By contrast, the upcoming NVIDIA SHIELD Android TV box (the only other one set to release, so far as we know) will cost $200 with a controller. It also includes NVIDIA's Gamestream capability for free, and the Tegra X1-based hardware is considerably more powerful than the Qualcomm chipset in the Forge. The SHIELD is scheduled to launch sometime in May. If nothing else, it's nice to have a few different options for Android TV at last.

What does a pre-order get you? If I am going to pre-order something it's either to make sure I get one in case it sells out (not likely here) or for a bonus.

Volodesi

Not using "Big Green's" hardware also causes a performance hit. Most of the encoding will probably be done on CPU instead of Nvidia's GTX GPU encoder. Splash top can already let people do this without having a Nvidia GPU.

Cory S

being you seem to be up to date on this, what does Steam use for their in home streaming? Does it have any kind of gain on Nvidia hardware?

Volodesi

I believe it uses CPU most of the time. But I believe they partnered with Nvidia at some point to implement their Nvidia NVENC encoder as well.

Supposedly, at least on the nexus player, you can use a fire stick TV Remote. So it would stand, that I should be able to use the remote as well with the razer forge tv.

Note: I own the Nexus Player, and will be getting this.

Cory S

What about a Harmony remote over bluetooth?

Kevin Brosseau

I have that harmony hub system thing, but I have never tried. I believe you'd have to get an IR Receiver and USB Hub to try. The non-Voice Fire TV Stick Remote works though without any issue. I personally haven't tested the Fire TV Stick Remote, but someone on this forum did and it worked. Just no voice.

The Harmony HUB can connect to computers over BT, so an IR receiver may not be required.

Kevin Brosseau

Then I'll give it a shot tonight.

erocm123

Harmony Hub connects to the Nexus Player via Bluetooth and works perfectly.

Or

Flirc (which the Nexus Player sees as a USB Keyboard) programmed the correct way works perfectly as well (with the Harmony Hub IR capabilities or basically any IR remote).

Cory S

perfect, thank you!

Medion

Do you have a TV remote? Does your TV support HDMI-CEC? If yes and yes, you're likely good.

My 2008 model Samsung HDTV supports it. We can use the TV remote to control the Nexus Player. All we lose is voice search.

RemoteFreakks

Can u pair the Nexus Remote with other Android Devices?

The missing Remote is also a no go for me;
And i was asking myself if the Fire TV Remote (*also Sold Separatly) maybe could work.

Medion

I've successfully paired it with my Moto X. I'd be shocked if it didn't work with a Forge TV or Shield Console.

RemoteFreaks

Ok, thats some good news then,

Altrough you can't buy the Nexus Player Remote separatly (for other Devices),
its still good that the Fire TV Remote is also working with other Android (TV) devices (according to ur feedback).

P.S
1.Are all (important) buttons work on the Fire TV Remote when used with other devices (Back, Home Buttons)?
Is the keymapping the same?
2. Why do u have both, a Nexus Player and an Fire Tv? ;-)
3. Did u also own/tested the Fire Tv controller (with other devices)?

Bryan Pizzuti

HDMI-CEC is primarily just "shuttle" controls..play, pause, FF, RW, that stuff. I don't think directional, menu, back, OK, etc are part of the spec.

I don't really care about games...but I am looking for the perfect Plex streamer which can Directplay most movies. Anyone know what kind of codec support and DTS pass through these things support?

Brock Dawkins

how about a chromebox with openelec (and plexbmc installed). or you can just install Plex Home Theater (Linux version) on the chromebox. Hit me up if your interested, I have one for sale.

Cory S

Problem with the Chromeboxes is those doesn't support HDCP for official HD broadcasts from apps like Netflix , VUDU, etc.

Brock Dawkins

Sorry. Wasn't aware of that. Move along people. Nothing to see here. Lol.

Jeremy Turnley

The info on the Forge's media capabilities is pretty sparse; all of the early "reviews" (actually just hands-on time) have focused on the gaming aspect. Given the FireTV can handle passthrough AC3/DTS in Kodi, it should as well, but I would wait for some real reviews.

The Kodi team seems to think the Shield is the One True King of android media players, but my experiences trying to use my Shield Portable as a console have been decidedly mixed; passthough doesn't work at all (the receiver just gets hiss) and multichannel seems to be putting out stereo across all channels rather than actually decoding the channels. The Shield console version is actually directly advertising HD audio passthrough (a first on android) so it hopefully will work better.

Cory S

Thank you for the information. As far as the Fire TV, from what I have read on the Plex forums it doesn't pass through DTS-5.1. It is capable of it, being the Netflix app can do it...but it is kind of a situation like with Chromecast where it is individually licensed at the application level.

Jeremy Turnley

Interesting. I am betting that's among the reasons why Kodi needs to be sideloaded. Thanks for the info!

Chris Wong

That's absolutely correct. Hence I'm going to replace it with a Roku since I don't use the rest of it anyway. Which is a shame because its super speedy and has a great remote

YelllowBee

Intel NUC. Its small and tiny and u get a "foll blown computer" in a tiny format. Use one myself for PHT(autostart with windows). Good thing is u can controllt it with the plexapp or "Unifide Remote" (anorid market), so you dont have to have a keyoboard or keyboard connected. The NUC also have IR if needed. Good thing is you use chrome/whatever to watch netflix/twitch/whatever. Works like a charm if you ask me :)

Cory S

yeah, that's really not any different than the laptop i am using, just in a different form factor. It works, it's just clunky. if all you used was Plex it be fine...but toss in netflix, Hulu, Vudu, Amazon Prime, HDHomeRun etc, and it is just a disaster to control from the couch.

yes, you can use a chromecast for those apps...but the idea is to have the ultimate streamer...not a hodgepodge of solutions. I also like having one remote control everything, and for that remote not to be a phone.

YelllowBee

If you want the "best" the phone/tablet to controll is the way to go. Use the browser and phone as "trackpad/keyboard". Or if u got an apple product, use Airplay as its supported by Plex(havent tried it for more that pictures to tv as I use above). I agree... Its not perfect, but I guess we have to do with what we got :)

Kevin Brosseau

Sadly, I found out that the modified Sling TV Apk that was set up for Android TV, does not work anymore. I loved that app, used it and it worked beautifully, as though it was natively coded. But on an unrelated note, here's something useful for you all:

Altrough:
I was asking myself (since...) if you could buy the Fire TV Remote for 29$ (it's also Bluetooth) and 'Pair' it with the Forge TV or other Android devices (Phones/Tablets).

But i don't have a Fire TV Remote so i can test it.

If someone wich have a Fire TV Remote pls could try to PAIR it with other Android devices (or maybe Android TV) over Bluetooth, that would be great.
(i think the Remote needs to be in Pairing Mode, and the Android Device to search for Bluetooth devices)

P.S
Would also be great to know if u can use the Fire TV Controller with Android TV (or other Android Devices) and/or the Nexus Player Controller.

The www is kind of missing those informations,
:-)

Medion

I can confirm that the following remotes work with my Nexus Player:
-Fire TV Remote
-My Samsung Remote over HDMI-CEC. Yes, your standard IR TV remote will control these boxes (most of the time).

Yeah, sadly that's what pushed me over the edge as well. That, and Kodi seems to be looking at it as the holy grail of low power media playback systems (which leads back to the needing a universal remote thing).

Kevin Brosseau

Also guys, the Razer Forge TV Bundle for $149 is back up on Amazon. Release date is May 15th.